| The City of Kawartha Lakes: confusion
helps
In January, the old Victoria County in a split vote
decided to accept the new moniker that had been given it by Harry
Kitchen’s one man amalgamation decree. It will be called the City of
Kawartha Lakes when developers come calling, and Kawartha Lakes when the
farmers and tourists are around. The name was chosen because
Peterborough officials suggested that it had marketing potential, but
also because so many Peterborough people were opposed to the new name
precisely because of the confusion it would create. In Lindsay, it has
long been commonplace to assume that whatever Peterborough opposed was
good enough for them.
It is ironic that Kitchen chose the name partly
because Lindsay was offensive in many parts of Victoria County, and
because Victoria was the name of a city in British Columbia. So to avoid
confusion, he suggested a name that is many times more confusing. The
name is historically and geographically more associated with
Peterborough, for over sixty years the recognized gateway to the
Kawarthas. There is a township with Kawartha Lakes in its name. The
county OPP, known as Kawartha OPP, is planning to change its name so
that emergency and rescue calls will not be confused. Countless
Peterborough businesses operate with a Kawartha name. Decisions made for
the wrong reason do tend to boomerang.
I have wondered why the name Victoria Region never
received consideration. Such a name would have recognized the importance
of 140 years of history and would have avoided the pretentiousness that
goes with calling the wide open county "city." There would
certainly have been no confusion, and the neighbouring Durham region,
where the old names thrive, would have provided a serviceable model. A
friend suggested to local officials that the name City of Victoria Lakes
was a superior choice; he was right.
We wish great success to the new City of Kawartha
Lakes, and hope that ensuring a future for its history will be high on
its agenda. When governments are phased out, the loss of archival
records is often as extensive as what accompanies fires, floods and
other disasters. The dangers are compounded in areas with no tradition
of archives and the preservation of historical memory. With forethought,
such a fate can be avoided. The Trent Valley Archives has a mandate to
help with archives in the five-county region, and our rural landmark
site should be an asset.
[Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley, V, 4 (February 2001)]
City of Kawartha Lakes
Amendments being made to the Municipal Act will make it very easy for
any municipality to change its name. This grew out of efforts to cut red
tape at Queen’s Park, and is not specifically an outcome of the
consultant’s choice of the City of Kawartha Lakes to replace Victoria
County. Now, instead of developing a private member’s bill,
municipalities can, after giving notice to the public, can pass a
by-law. Chris Hodgson commented this is easier than arranging
plebescites or referenda, and he advises people to give input on
changing the name. [Peterborough Examiner, 23 October 2000, B3]
Earlier, Warden John Macklem claimed there would be no real changes
because of the name change, as people would continue to use the same
mailing addresses. He added, "the only real difference that the
average citizen will see is the addition of a few extra signs on the
road." Old community signs will remain, and so will the markers
that refer to the area as the County of Victoria. Why bother with the
expense and silliness of putting up the extra signs? We shall see.
[Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley, V, 3 (November 2000)]
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